Prince of Cheerleading
by Gwynhafra
Summary: The Seigaku, Fudoumine and Hyotei players had, thanks to a certain oresama, found themselves dragged into a competition which has nothing to do with tennis and more to do with pompoms instead. Which school will emerge victorious?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I'm merely 'borrowing' them a while for my fic.**

**Warning: Extreme silliness**

**Pairings: Vague**

A/N: This idea hit me some time ago thanks to my bro, who is in cheerleading.

I would like to dedicate this fic to three people.

One would be my bratty little brother, whose team had managed to get Best Newcomer's Award during the Cheer 2007 competitions. Congrats, and don't get cocky just because of it. XD

The second is my pal **Yuki Amane**, whose birthday is on the 19th of July.

Last but not least, to my pal **mimikitty**, who had written a wonderful birthday fic for me. This fic would be my thanks.

Short Note: _Italics to indicate flashbacks_

Okie dokie then, to the story…

**Prince of Cheerleading**

By: Gwynhafra

Chapter 1

It started off as an ordinary day for the happy residents of Seishun Gakuen. Everyone was enjoying these few competition-free months, with the first years practicing their swings, the second years and third years doing some light practice, and the regulars doing stamina training.

Tezuka seemed to be less edgy too, as he loosened up with the punishments. So far, no one had been assigned laps or pushups yet, which was a pleasant change of pace for Seigaku tennis club.

Sadly, this temporary peace was to come to an end soon. Momoshiro Takeshi, Seigaku sophomore, had just arrived late for practice that day. The dunk smash player meekly padded over to Seigaku's feared, stoic captain, and gingerly held out a letter, which he pinched at the very edge of his fingertips, as if it would suddenly explode anytime, and Momoshiro was trying to put as much distance between him and said letter as possible.

No sooner had Tezuka taken it from Momoshiro, the black-haired boy then spun around and fled as fast as his legs could carry him. Frowning slightly at Momoshiro's unusual behaviour that day, Tezuka turned his attention to the letter and tore the envelope open to read its contents. There was a short moment of pause as Tezuka's eyes moved from side to side rapidly, reading the letter.

10 seconds later, Tezuka's surroundings erupted with flames. Figuratively, not literally speaking. All the other club members halted practice as they watched their captain, whose glasses were flashing furiously.

"Momoshiro! 100 laps now!"

XXX

As to how Seigaku found themselves in this current predicament, they'd have to thank their dunk smash player for that. All these actually began two hours ago, and the setting then wasn't in Seishun Gakuen, but at the street tennis courts instead.

_It hadn't started out with anything unusual either. Nope. It wasn't unusual for Momoshiro to be hanging out with Ann at the street tennis courts before practice began. Nope, it wasn't unusual for Kamio, Tachibana's super loyal vice-captain and Ann's bodyguard, to tag along. It certainly wasn't unusual either for the speed demon and Seigaku's trickster to be involved in an argument that was, as usual, concerning Ann._

"_Ann-chan! What are you doing with this…this…bike-thief?!"_

_Momoshiro gave a frustrated snarl. "How many times have I told you the same thing already? I was borrowing your bike to chase after a thief. I'm not a bike-thief!"_

"_And look what was the condition of my bike when you returned it to me?! Do you know how much the repairs had cost me? Ann-chan, Tachibana-san would be most upset if you ever went out with this guy."_

"_W-who's going out with her on a date? We're only here for tennis. Right, Tachibana's little sister?"_

"_I never said anything about a date. Ah-ha! You've confessed!"_

_Meanwhile, Tachibana Ann merely chuckled as she watched the two bicker, deciding that it was not necessary for her to interrupt them. Teenage boys with their oversized egos and raging hormones. These two will be fine once they get thirsty from all that shouting._

_Somehow, the topic switched from Ann to the impending competitions, which was still five months away._

"_Fudoumine will not lose to Seigaku this round."_

"_Oh yeah? I think you said that the last time." Momoshiro snickered._

_Kamio threw him a glare. "We have learnt from that defeat, and now we have practiced harder than ever. This round, we will return to the courts at least 10 times stronger than before."_

"_Oh yeah? Seigaku will return 100 times stronger."_

"_Fudoumine will return 200 times stronger then. Also, we will have our cheering squad to back us up."_

"_Hah! Seigaku will have a cheering squad which is even bigger than yours. In fact, all of our players are so versatile; we can do our own cheers too."_

"_The both of you make it sound as if your team members are cheerleaders." Ann chuckled._

_Both of the boys stared at her. "Y-yeah. That too. If there was a cheerleading competition, my team would win hands down." Momoshiro pressed on._

"_Nonsense! It's my team which would emerge as champion of any cheerleading competition!" Kamio retorted._

_A low chuckle could be heard following that statement, causing goosebumps to break out on both of them._

"_Now now, what is this ore-sama hear? It sounds like Seigaku and Fudoumine are having something up their sleeves. Of course, our grand school Hyotei cannot be excluded from this. Right, Kabaji?"_

"_Usu."_

_Both Momoshiro and Kamio turned around at the voices and to their horror, Atobe and his loyal servant/fellow regular were standing not too far away from them. Who knew what was Atobe doing in a street tennis court?_

_Atobe gave a snap of his fingers, and Kabaji immediately held an umbrella over his head. The diva then walked over before stopping just a few feet away from the two, putting a hand on his waist and a smirk on his face._

"_You have a lot of nerve, Seigaku's Momoshiro-kun, Fudoumine's Kamio-kun. How dare you peasants speak of such competitions without even thinking of inviting ore-sama's beautiful school? Ahn?" Atobe glared down at them with his trademark Ice Emperor Stare, shortening their lives by a few years._

"_Anou…Atobe-san…there is no such competition…" Momoshiro tried to explain that it was only an argument between the speed demon and him._

_Unfortunately, Atobe wasn't patient enough to wait for the Seigaku player to finish the sentence. He silenced the poor black-haired boy with an even fiercer glare, causing him to gulp in horror._

"_How dare you speak of such blatant lies right in front of ore-sama's face, you unworthy subjects!" Apparently, the dark-grey haired diva had thought that Momoshiro and Kamio were not keen on inviting him, and so were trying to deny about this 'competition'._

"_But…Atobe-san…that's the truth…" Kamio tried weakly._

_Atobe held out a hand to silence them. "Enough! Whether you like it or not, Hyotei will be joining this cheerleading competition as well. In fact, to make it more suitable to ore-sama's tastes, I will hold this competition in the hall of one of my private clubs. Be awed by ore-sama's generosity."_

_By now, it was already too late to dissuade Atobe from his fantasies, as the diva was already in his own world, planning for this new competition with dramatic sweeps of his hands, as well as a lot of "Right, Kabaji?"s. _

_Seemingly coming to a final decision, Atobe had finally stopped talking to himself (and Kabaji), as he turned around to face the other two. _

"_Ore-sama will have a formal document printed out immediately regarding this matter, and you are both to pass it to your captains. Ore-sama will expect all of you to be there."_

_No sooner had he finished speaking when one of his men walked up to him to pass him two letters, which he handed to Momoshiro and Kamio. Both of them gaped at him in bewilderment. How on earth did Atobe get official documents typed and authorized so quickly???_

_Atobe smirked, looking pleased at their expressions. "You will understand that ore-sama's men are very efficient. Even as ore-sama spoke just now, they already are carrying out ore-sama's indirect orders. Now then, move along, you two. Ore-sama will expect a reply by tomorrow."_

_Both Momoshiro and Kamio exchanged helpless looks. The same thought whizzed through their minds._

'_It's all your fault!'_

XXX

So it was, back at Seishun Gakuen, when Tezuka read out this most unfortunate news to all his regulars after they had assembled before him.

Not surprisingly, they just gaped at him. Well, Kaidou, Kikumaru, Oishi and Kawamura gaped at him. Inui was scribbling in his notebook, perhaps noting down the date of the competition, Fuji was chuckling softly, and Echizen, being Echizen, couldn't be bothered about the news. He tuned out anything that was unrelated to tennis anyway. Momoshiro wasn't with the regulars; since he was still busy running his 57th lap.

"So, what would you do, Tezuka?" Inui asked finally, as he shut his green notebook.

Fuji gave a soft, evil laugh. "It looks interesting. Why not go for it?"

Tezuka frowned slightly as he stared down at the letter again. Nearby, Oishi was having a mild panic attack. "It's only 5 months to the Nationals. We were so lucky this round to have such a long break in between the competitions, but now we have another one?! Tezuka, you most certainly cannot accept that! How on earth can we do cheerleading when we've never tried it before, and the cheerleading competitions are in 4 months' time!"

"Calm down, Oishi. I am not intending to accept this in the first place anyway." Tezuka stated calmly.

True to his word, Tezuka wrote a formal reply to Atobe to politely decline the invitation.

"_Atobe:_

_I'm afraid I would have to decline this offer. We are preparing for the Nationals during this period, and we have no time for any other competitions that are unrelated to tennis. Also, no one here has any experience in cheerleading, and we have no coach. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Tezuka."_

Barely a few hours after Tezuka had sent his reply, the Hyotei king had sent a reply for Tezuka's reply, and a coach too.

An exasperated Tezuka ripped open the envelope.

"_Tezuka:_

_You're not running away, are you? If Fudoumine and Hyotei can train for the competitions in four months, ore-sama don't see why the famous Seigaku wouldn't be able to do so too. If you have no time, then __**make**__ time for this event, since it is hosted by ore-sama. You should be honoured. If you're worried about the lack of a coach, I can assure that you will find the coach I sent with this letter to be a very capable trainer indeed. Whatever it is, Tezuka, just remember. The winner is Hyotei._

_You should worship,_

_Ore-sama, the greatest king of Hyotei, Atobe Keigo."_

Tezuka translated Atobe's reply easily- "I don't take no as an answer."

XXX

So it was, the Seigaku regulars assembled once more the following day to discuss the situation.

"So what is your reply going to be?" Inui asked once more.

Tezuka's glasses flashed. "We'll accept this challenge. Minna, yudan sezu ni ikkou."

To be continued…

A/N: Taking a short break from my other two fics to clear my mind. Might not be updating this fic as frequently as the other two, since those two are still given priority.

**Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.**

-Gwyn


	2. Seigaku

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I'm merely borrowing them for a while.**

**Warning: Extreme silliness.**

**Pairings: Vague**

A/N: Good grief. It's been ages since my previous chapter. A thousand apologies for the super late update.

Be warned that there may be hints of…eh…relationships throughout the fic. My OTP, especially. I have a soft spot for those two. (As to which two, ufufufu, make a wild guess.)

Also, some skills here might seem bombastic/impossible. Do try to bear with me.

**Sora**, **TEZUKAISCOOL**, **forgotten hyoshi**, Thanks for your reviews. So sorry for the late update.

**Jenny**, ehehe. It's only Seigaku and Fudoumine as all these started because of the fight between Kamio and Momoshiro. Hyotei is dragged in thanks to the ore-sama. As to who is judging their competitions, you'd have to see the later chapters.

To the story then…

**Prince of Cheerleading**

By: Gwynhafra

Chapter 2

So it was, Seigaku's nine regulars and three sophomore non-regulars (including Arai) found themselves in this new cheerleading team. The non-regulars were there as the team required at least 12 members, since each stunt group required at least four people.

They started off with the basics, of course. To train strength, the coach, Tsubaragi instructed them to do pushups and sit-ups. To train flexibility, they were instructed to do stretching exercises, but since the Seigaku regulars did all these on a regular basis, they were excluded from this, and only the non-regulars had to do the basics.

Later, the coach had asked them to do splits, and after she had done a demonstration, she indicated that all of them should do the same.

"You've got to be kidding…we have to…go all the way down to the ground with our legs stretched out like that? How are we ever going to be able to stand up again?" Momoshiro wondered aloud.

Kikumaru didn't need to be told twice. Instantly, he did a perfect split, just as the coach had done, drawing 'ooohs' of admiration from his teammates. The coach was the first to applaud. The cheerleaders-in-the-making just mimicked her dumbly.

"Wonderful, wonderful, Kikumaru-kun. You have great talent for cheerleading." She praised.

The others, after a brief warm up session, attempted to brave this challenge. Momoshiro and Kaidou had declared a silent war at each other, and forced themselves to do a split. They had somewhat succeeded. Sadly, for their reward, they had a massive cramp in both their legs. Also, they found themselves unable to get back up on their feet, and required both Inui and Kawamura to help them up.

The others, taking Momoshiro and Kaidou's example as a valuable lesson, decided to take their time with the splits. Kawamura couldn't do a one, no matter how he tried, and the coach soon gave up on trying to get him to perform it.

Fuji, like Kikumaru, was soon able to perform a perfect split. He had a soft and flexible bone structure after all. The others applauded when Fuji sank to the ground effortlessly, and was able to get back on his feet quickly too.

While everyone else was busy with their training, Echizen returned from the cafeteria, having snuck off for a can of Ponta some time ago.

Momoshiro was to first to spot the freshman, who stood by the sides calmly sipping on his drink. He frowned. "Echizen! What do you think you're doing there? Have you done your warm-ups yet?"

Ryoma didn't answer him, and instead seemed to be placing full attention on his drink, and only his drink.

Tsubaragi then spotted him too. "Yo. Boy. Hurry up and train your splits. Time is short now."

Ryoma glared at her. "Yadda."

The coach, needless to say, was suffering from mild shock at being yelled at by a boy so much younger and shorter than her. Atobe had forgotten to warn her about the bratty prince when he hired her for this job.

Tezuka was the next one to speak up. "Echizen! 20 laps now! After you're done get into the courts and do your splits." He ordered.

Ryoma pulled his cap lower to hide his glare, least Seigaku's dictator decided to increase the laps. "Ceh…" He began running.

When Ryoma returned to the court, Tezuka gave him a stern gaze, and Ryoma pulled his cap lower before doing a split. Being the youngest there, he had no problem with this since his bones were still soft and flexible, and he threw all his seniors a smirk. "Mada mada dane." He taunted.

XXX

If splits weren't bad enough, the next disastrous part was when they were all trained to do cartwheels.

There was more than one collision, and hands and legs had ended up in various, highly impossible yoga positions. Fuji and Kikumaru were the only two who had no difficulties doing them, while the others, like Tezuka, had caught on after several rounds of practice. Echizen had no problem with cartwheels. Instead, the coach was the one having difficulties trying to actually get him to do cartwheels with the others. That guy was born uncooperative.

Not even Echizen's best friend could get him to listen to the coach. Tezuka had been the most effective, with his death glare and dictator aura. Inui had been a close second, since that guy had data on every single regular's dirty little secrets, and a single whisper near the freshman's ear was enough to cause him to pale and perform whatever task it was the coach had asked him to do. Fuji had been third, though that might have been partially thanks to Kawamura too. The tensai had somehow managed to slip a racket into the shy Kawamura sushi heir's hand, and set a 'burning' Kawamura after Echizen. The poor boy must have broken at least ten of his previous running records trying to escape from the bulky senior. It was only after Ryoma cooperated did Fuji extract the racket from the 'burning' player's grip, though however he did that, not even Inui could get accurate data on it.

The coach nearly sank to the ground in relief once all of them had managed to at least perform decent cartwheels. Now then, the tough part--stunts.

The regulars were split into 3 stunt groups. Tsubaragi had decided that the three main bases, of course, were the stronger players. Momoshiro, Inui and Kawamura were each placed into different stunt groups. Tezuka was the other base, along with Momoshiro's group. Oishi joined Inui's, while Kaidou joined Kawamura's.

The flyers were either the lightest or the most nimble. Echizen, Kikumaru and Fuji were chosen for this position. Echizen, being the shortest, joined the stunt group which would be positioned in the centre. The boy pulled down his cap and walked wordlessly over to Momoshiro and Tezuka. Fuji walked over to Kawamura and Kaidou's group, which was on Echizen's group's right. Kikumaru bounced over to Oishi and Inui's group (Echizen's group's left), giving him a high five as he did so.

Giving a brief explanation on how the stunts should be performed, the coach finished and drew in a deep breath. "Now then. Any questions?" She asked.

Her statement was met with skeptical stares. No one had uttered a word though, and the coach nodded in satisfaction. "Very well. For now you'll be practicing in your individual groups. We will only do group practice once everyone has got a hang on how to do the stunts."

XXXXXX

Group B (Inui, Oishi, Kikumaru)

"Alright. Oishi. Keep your hands at 170 degrees. When you lift him, keep your stability by spreading your feet at least 0.2 metres apart. Also, when you lift him, keep the speed at…"

The poor motherhen vice-captain's head was spinning from Inui's instructions. By the time Inui had stopped speaking, Oishi wasn't too confident he could lift Eiji without dropping him and cracking his skull. Now how many degrees was he supposed to keep his hands at again?

Someone poked him in the face, and Oishi snapped out of his daze in time to see his doubles partner grinning at him. "You're zoning out, Oishi. Relax, relax. Leave it all to Kikumaru-sama's acrobatics." The redhead said confidently.

Oishi forced a weak smile on his face. "A-aa. Let's begin then, Inui." Both of them braced themselves, preparing to lift the flyer.

Kikumaru held onto their shoulders for balance, and with a simple leap, he bounced onto their waiting palms. Both of them hoisted him up, though, while Oishi had lifted Kikumaru steadily, Inui had underestimated his own strength, and had lifted Kikumaru too fast.

"Not good!" Inui accidentally released his grip on the soles of Kikumaru's feet, and Oishi found himself being the only base to support the flyer. The motherhen teetered dangerously on the spot for a moment, with his teeth gritted as he concentrated on keeping his balance. No matter what, he wouldn't drop Eiji!

After a while, he managed to stabilize himself, and he carefully allowed Kikumaru to dismount.

Inui adjusted his glasses. "So sorry about that, Oishi. I'm impressed by how you kept your balance though."

Tsubaragi had been observing their performance, and she came over to their team, patting them on the back. "Don't worry, don't worry. You're still new at this. Very good though, to see the trust between the flyer and the base."

Kikumaru grinned. "Of course. Oishi here will never let me fall. Golden Pair forever! Right, Oishi?"

"Aa." The motherhen smiled. Tsubaragi nodded for them to try again, and they did, lifting Kikumaru successfully.

The acrobatic player had an incredible sense of balance. No matter how they shook him, that guy was still able to keep his balance (not that Oishi and Inui would shake him for real). Kikumaru waved to the non-regulars (who were still having tennis practices) cheerfully from where he stood, high above everyone's heads.

The acrobatic player then turned to his best friend's team, waving madly. "Fuji, Fuji! We've managed to do the stunt so quickly!"

While Kikumaru was showing off to the tensai, Inui threw a glance at the other team. "Kaidou. Any problems there?"

XXXXXX

Group C (Kawamura, Kaidou, Fuji)

Kawamura looked slightly unsure as Kaidou gave a short recap on Tsubaragi's briefing. Really. Cheerleading required a lot of grace, and a whole load of preciseness was required for the stunts. How could he, the bulky, very clumsy son of a sushi shop owner, be able to pull this off?

Fuji was smiling next to him, nodding at Kaidou's words to indicate understanding before turning to him. "Taka-san. I'll be counting on you then." The tensai said.

Kaidou gave a soft hiss before turning his gaze to Kawamura, waiting for his signal. The sushi shop heir gave a determined nod, and both of them tried to lift Fuji.

The tensai was rather light and nimble, perfect for a flyer. However, Kawamura, being overrun by his nerves, still managed to drop the tensai. Fuji managed to land perfectly on his feet though, graceful as his first counter-Swallow.

The tensai smiled at Kawamura, who had turned red from his failure. "It's alright, Taka-san. Try again."

The second attempt was even worse than the first. Kawamura's grip had loosened accidentally, and he fumbled to catch the tensai, so that he wouldn't fall. However, in his haste, his hands had ended up touching wherever hands weren't supposed to wander off to, and the sushi shop owner withdrew his hands immediately, while apologizing non-stop to Fuji.

That had officially killed off his courage to try again, and the timid sushi shop heir was too mortified to make another attempt at the stunts.

"What do we do, senpai?" Kaidou asked Fuji.

Right at that moment, Kikumaru's team had managed to get the acrobatic player into the air, and the redhead was showing off his team's accomplishment.

Inui, the main base in Kikumaru's group, had lifted an eyebrow and asked, "Kaidou. Any problems there?"

It was very obvious that they were having problems indeed, as Kikumaru gleefully pointed out.

Fuji's cerulean eyes opened. The tensai merely gave a calm smile and walked over to Kawamura's bag. Without a word, he zipped it open and retrieved the power player's yellow racket before returning to his team. "Hai, Taka-san." He held it out to the brunette.

"That won't do, Fuji. I can't hold a racket and perform the stunts at the same time. It's just not-" Fuji took the advantage of him speaking to slip the racket into his hand.

Kawamura's eyes went wide. The next moment, his eyes narrowed as his alter ego took over. The power player began waving the racket violently in the air. "Burning! Let's go, Fuji-baby!"

His enthusiasm caused the other base-Kaidou to back away in fear, while Fuji remained on the spot, smiling innocently. Kawamura then proceeded to lift Fuji (all signs of the power player's embarrassment forgotten) with only one hand!

"Very good, very good! That's supposed to be a rather advanced skill. Your team did well." Tsubaragi praised them, her attentions affectively stolen from team B, much to Kikumaru's dismay. Fuji threw his best friend a serene, almost challenging smile. 'You still can't win me yet, Eiji.' His blue gaze was saying.

XXXXXX

Group A (Tezuka, Echizen, Momoshiro)

Momoshiro gave a sigh of relief. Echizen seemed to be in a more cooperative mood today, and did the stunts without giving them too much trouble. His small built and light weight was a great asset to them, and they could lift him without much difficulty.

In fact, Momoshiro was so relieved that his mouth went ahead of his head again as he gave Ryoma a compliment. "You know, Echizen. We're really thankful that you're so small."

It sounded like a compliment to Momoshiro, but it sure sounded like an insult to Echizen, as a vein throbbed on his head. The next moment, Ryoma, who was still standing on their palms, balanced his weight on Tezuka's palm as he lifted his foot off Momoshiro's palms and ran them through the Dunk Smash player's hair instead, making a bird nest out of the gelled locks.

"Ah! Echizen! How could you?!" Momoshiro yelled.

Ryoma merely gave him a smirk. "Mada mada dane."

XXX

The ochibi could really hold a grudge, as a few practices later, when the stunt groups were now asked to practice together, Ryoma still refused to give Momoshiro his full cooperation.

Tsubaragi was counting the beats, having informed them of when to mount and when to dismount. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ,6 ,7 ,8, up!" She called out loud.

Both Fuji and Kikumaru leapt into action, hopping onto their respective bases' hands, and were lifted up perfectly. Tsubaragi turned to the group in the centre, the one which would be garnering most of the attention during the competitions, and raised an eyebrow.

Momoshiro, red-faced with embarrassment as he was highly aware of them being the only group not doing the stunts, hissed at his junior in a slightly urgent voice. "That was the cue to mount, Echizen!"

"Yadda." Echizen replied, the apathetic boy perfectly at ease despite the glares he was receiving from the other groups, all impatient for him to hurry up so that they could move on to another stunt.

Momoshiro looked like he would love nothing more than to pick Echizen up by force. However, that would also increase his chances of dropping the boy.

"Come on, Echizen. Don't be a brat!" Momoshiro hissed.

Ryoma threw him a golden glare. "Yadda. You're going to drop me, and I'm not too keen on getting killed."

"Coach is the one who wants us to do a (single base) tow pitch. Just hurry up already!" Momoshiro sighed, exasperated. This was a stunt where the base would toss the flyer into the air before catching him by the soles of his feet, and the flyer had to stabilize himself pretty fast. Needless to say, Echizen didn't feel so optimistic about this stunt (he would most rather only perform stunts with two people as the base, not one like this stunt), and Momo, being the main base and the one to perform the stunt, was finding his hands full with one very uncooperative flyer.

Momoshiro tried again and again to coax Echizen, but his efforts were in vain. In the end, Tezuka instructed the rest to proceed on with the rest of the stunts, while he returned to his group for a short talk.

"Momoshiro. I'll take over as the main base." Tezuka said, and Momoshiro was more than happy to comply. Echizen had frowned at that, having less confidence in Tezuka's strength than he did with Momo's, but when he tried to show Tezuka some cheek, the captain assigned him laps till sundown.

Needless to say, the brat made a mental note not to get on the captain's bad side again.

Momoshiro and Arai (the latter for there as a Third, to provide support to the flyer) breathed a sigh of relief as Tezuka managed to lift Echizen up in a tow pitch, and had even managed to do a Shoulder Stand, (where the flyer would stand on the base's shoulders), as well as an Extension, (where the base would extend his arms, lifting the flyer up as high as he could reach, with his arms kept straight.) The captain did not look it, but he was quite strong too, and could take the role of the main base. Just as expected from Seigaku's pillar.

They caught up with the other groups. Echizen had, by this point, become very, very cooperative, and team A couldn't help breathing another sigh of relief.

Echizen's reason for this, however, wasn't so noble.

After all, how many people could actually, in their whole lifetime, have the chance to step all over the feared, stoic Tezuka-buchou's head and shoulders, and actually get away with it? There was no way Echizen would ruin the opportunity.

Ryoma was smirking down at the brunette, bespectacled captain, gloating at the change of position. For once, he was the one standing higher than Tezuka. Several times, the brat deliberately moved his foot, messing up Tezuka's hair, or knocking his glasses askew, and each time Tezuka threw him a glare, Ryoma threw him a cocky, seemingly innocent smirk in return. "Ah, gomen, gomen. My foot must have slipped there."

Tezuka was not one to be fooled though. The Seigaku prodigy was being a nuisance, and he knew it. Deciding that Echizen needed to be taught a lesson, the captain waited for his chance during the next stunt. As he had expected, the prodigy had, again, lifted his foot to give Tezuka a new 'hairstyle', and this round, Tezuka loosened his grip on the first year's foot slightly.

With one leg in the air, and the other not firmly balanced on Tezuka's shoulder, needless to say, Ryoma found himself falling to the ground, and the freshman gave a yelp. The painful contact with the ground had never come though, for Ryoma found himself in the captain's arms. Apparently Tezuka caught him at the last moment, deciding that the scare was enough of a punishment.

Tezuka's face remained expressionless, though the corners of his lips twitched slightly in what might have been a smirk before fixing itself back into a straight line again. "Gomen, gomen. My hands must have slipped." The captain threw Echizen's words back at him.

Ryoma blinked before a small smile spread on his face. "Heh." 'So the captain can hold a grudge after all.' "Mada mada dane, buchou."

XXXXXX

The coach was very proud of the three teams' performances, and this round, she decided to include something new into the stunts. She felt that since their progress had been rapid, there was no harm in trying out something new.

She asked Group A's main base to help out with this little 'experiment', and the ever responsible captain was quick to oblige. Tezuka was to do an Extension, and Echizen…would be doing a handstand, balancing himself delicately on Tezuka's palms.

Momoshiro's eyes widened in horror at that. "That's too much. It's not a skill in Cheerleading. That would be a skill in a circus! Echizen's not that good at the stunts."

Again, what was actually a voice of concern for a friend; sounded more like a mockery to the very pride-filled freshman's skills. Echizen twitched, and immediately turned to the coach. "I'll try it."

"Excellent! With this way, we can beat Fudoumine for sure!" She chuckled, her laughter sounding extremely similar to a certain tensai. Everyone shuddered and kept their distance from her. For some reason, every time after practice, she would surely end her speeches with "we must beat Fudoumine!" The Seigaku regulars/cheerleaders couldn't help wondering just why she was so hostile towards the other school.

Very carefully, Echizen balanced himself on Tezuka's palms, and Tezuka carefully extended both arms, executing a perfect Extension. Everyone applauded at their success. The black-green haired boy smirked. "Mada mada dane." He crowed at his seniors.

Momoshiro snorted. "Don't get so arrogant Echizen. You can't do that na, you can't do that yo." He snickered.

"By the way, senpai-tachi. With their current stunt, doesn't it seem that just one wrong move, and they'd end up kissing each other?" Momoshiro declared.

Kikumaru joined in. "That's right, that's right. Considering Tezuka is facing Echizen, and Echizen is looking down."

Tezuka shuddered at the mental thought those two managed to jam in his mind, and that shudder was more than enough to lose the delicate balance Echizen was keeping on his palms, and the freshman came crashing down.

Oishi was the first to react. "Someone get Echizen off Tezuka! Goodness! The both of you aren't hurt, are you?"

Momoshiro winced. "Oh dear…they really did…I hope that wasn't their first."

The twin glares he received in return were enough of an answer. "Yarou…" Echizen looked like he wanted to kill Momo with his racket.

Tezuka's glasses flashed. "Momoshiro, Kikumaru, 100 laps now!"

XXXXXX

The last part taught to them was the dances. Not surprisingly, Fuji and Kikumaru performed fairly well, since they belonged to the nimble types. Echizen didn't do too badly, for he didn't want to be outdone by his seniors. His pride wouldn't allow it. Oishi, Momoshiro and Kaidou were average. Kawamura danced like a bear. Tezuka and Inui were downright wooden.

Once they were sure their performance was at least presentable, Oishi, Kikumaru, Fuji and Inui walked over to Tezuka.

"Tezuka. This is cheerleading. You have to try to smile, even if only a little." Oishi told his best friend.

Tezuka's lips turned down further in response to that.

"That's right, that's right. Do the cheerleading smile!" Kikumaru demonstrated, opening his mouth in a huge, wide smile.

Both Fuji and Inui nodded. "Just try, Tezuka."

The corners of Tezuka's lips quivered ever so slightly. Eventually, that quiver turned into something that looked rather like he was having spasms in his face. After what felt like an eternity, Tezuka _smiled_…or at least, he tried to. That smile looked like a very, very evil version of a leer that put Fuji's evil grins to shame.

Kikumaru gave a scream, hiding behind Oishi. The next moment, Kikumaru found himself supporting Oishi though, for the motherhen had fainted. Fuji's eyes had opened, his smile gone as he paled. Inui couldn't even note that down in his data. The hand holding his pen and the hand holding his notebook were shaking too badly for him to do so.

"Enough. Tezuka, stop smiling!" Kikumaru wailed.

Tezuka's 'grin' remained fixed on his face. "…I…can't…" the reply came after a while.

"Why not? Just stop grinning already, Tezuka. You're scaring us!" Kikumaru wailed again.

Tezuka's grin was unchanging, though his glare was also activated too, making him look 10 times scarier than his usual self.

"…… my face has cramped……"

XXXXXX

Tsubaragi sighed, watching as the Seigaku team try out the full routine of their whole cheerleading performance. The day's practice had ended in chaos. Momoshiro's team had collided with Kaidou's team during the stunts, and now the two rivals were fighting. Again. Oishi had a panic attack some time ago, and Kikumaru was fanning him to keep him from fainting. Kawamura was on full burning mode, chasing poor, frightened non-regulars around the courts, while Fuji stood nearby, watching with a sadistic smile as his camera clicked away. Echizen had run off to the cafeteria again to get burgers, escaping the rest of practice. Inui was in a corner collecting data, while Tezuka was in another corner, muttering "be the pillar, be the pillar…"

Tsubaragi sighed again. Only a miracle would help this club. Would they be able to win the Cheerleading competitions?

Well…she wouldn't mind it so much. Just as long as they beat Fudoumine…

To be continued…

A/N: Finished the chapter. Again, so sorry for the wait.

Will try to update the next chapter A.S.A.P.

**Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.**

-Gwyn


	3. Fudoumine

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I do own the manga and anime though.**

**Warining: Extreme silliness**

**Pairings: Vague**

**Alice**, glad you liked it. Poor Tez just isn't used to smiling.

**Jenny**, for now it's just the three schools. As to whether he'd invite the rest…ufufufu. You'd have to read on.

**cirrus74**, well, yeah. There are hints of ::coughpairingscough:: in there. I'd want Tez to smile. (grins)

To the story then…

**Prince Of Cheerleading**

By: Gwynhafra

Chapter 3

"Kamio."

The vice captain of Fudoumine stood there with his head bowed, his expression slightly guilty once the captain, Tachibana had finished reading the official letter sent by Atobe.

"I'm sorry, Tachibana-san." Kamio apologized. It was his hot-headedness which had gotten his whole team into this mess…well…his hot-headedness…and Momoshiro too! It was all that guy's fault!

"Really, Kamio. I had expected you to be more mature than this. What's the point of getting into an argument with Seigaku's Momoshiro." Tachibana chided lightly.

The dark-haired captain gave a sigh. "It can't be helped. What's done is done, Kamio. Don't beat yourself over it. We'll do our best then."

Kamio looked gratefully up at the captain. "You…you're not blaming me?"

"Why should I do that? Just don't do this again. The next time, I'd make you run laps. Come now, we have to inform the others."

Tachibana looked down at the letter again and took a deep breath before calling his regulars over. "Minna, lend me your ears."

They obeyed, coming forward to stand before him in a line. Tachibana maintained a calm expression as he broke the news to them.

"Hyotei's Atobe will be organizing an inter-school cheerleading competition, and he has extended an invitation to our school…" Tachibana began.

"Let's turn it down then. We have no time to waste on cheerleading…" Shinji had began mumbling.

Tachibana smiled slightly. "I'm afraid this is…compulsory. Atobe will be expecting Fudoumine's participation."

"That diva is really getting his way too many times. He's so spoilt. How lucky, to be so rich. I wonder what it'll be like to have a life like his…" Shinji mumbled again.

"Shinji!" Tachibana chided, preventing him from suffering dehydration. Ibu responded with a mumbled apology.

Tachibana swept his gaze over his teammates before speaking again. "Now then, does anyone here know anything about cheerleading?"

Silence descended. Birds chirped, and a gust of wind blew, sweeping some leaves past the tennis courts. Everyone glanced uneasily at each other, hoping to see someone raise a hand into the air, but unfortunately, there was none.

Tachibana's face remained calm. He noted that all their hands were down and gave a nod. "I understand. So everyone here is a novice at this, just like I am."

Kamio, being the vice-captain, was the first to speak up again, voicing everyone's silent question. "So…how are we going to do this, Tachibana-san?"

Tachibana gave them all a reassuring smile. "I may not have any experience with cheerleading, but I have been to a cheerleading competition once. Ann had me take her there, so I have seen some of the moves. With time, we will practice them and come up with our own moves and routines.

All of the regulars' eyes shone with admiration for their captain. "We're right behind you, Tachibana-san." As one, all of them declared.

Tachibana nodded. "Good. I'll demonstrate now."

The dark-haired third year walked about the courts, glancing around as if he were searching for something. After a while, he spotted what he was looking for, and bending over, picked up two small, mineral water bottles off the bench. His regulars watched with bated breath, awaiting his next instructions.

Without warning, the captain did a demonstration…and all the regulars' breath left them as they gave a wheeze of horror.

For Tachibana was shaking the two bottles in the air like imaginary pompoms, while gyrating his hips and jiggling his butt at the same time. It was…incredibly disturbing.

"Enough, enough, Tachibana-san." The regulars wailed. Shinji had long retreated into his own world and was fervently mumbling again. They never thought they'd live to see such a mind-scarring performance from their most respected leader.

Tachibana raised an eyebrow, misinterpreting their dilemma. "Oh? You don't need me to do a demonstration anymore? You're fast learners." He said approvingly.

Clapping his hands twice, he gathered their attention again. "Now then, shall we begin?"

XXX

It was a very hot afternoon, and one attractive lady, somewhere in her twenties, stood outside the gates to one very rundown, very old looking school. She wiped at her forehead delicately with her handkerchief, frowning to herself.

So this was the place her employer has assigned her to. Considering the grand mansion her employer had conducted her interview in, she had expected said school to be of the same standard as her employer's abode, but no…

The building which greeted her eyes spoke of years and years of use, and paint was tearing off the walls. The buildings were small, and fairly dull. Maybe even haunted! That last thought had her hesitating in her steps, not daring to move even an inch past the gates. Instead, she paced outside, wondering to herself just what her next step should be.

"May I help you?" A voice asked suddenly.

The lady gave a yelp, dropping her handbag in surprise. She flushed in embarrassment at being caught so deep in her own thoughts, and snatched her bag off the ground while giving a weak laugh. The person who had addressed her--a balding, middle-aged man, gave her a suspicious, yet still polite stare.

She gave a bow. "I am Futsuka Maiko, here as Fudoumine Cheerleading Team's trainer."

"Cheerleading team?" The man repeated curiously, his eyebrows furrowing. "We do not have such a club here." He said.

Maiko referred to a document in her handbag. "Ah. My mistake. The tennis club, I mean."

The man nodded, understanding immediately. He turned around and wordlessly led the way. Maiko gave the gates another wary glance before putting one tentative foot in, followed by another. Satisfied that the school was not haunted, she followed the man to the clubs.

Before they reached, she struck a conversation with the man, who introduced himself as one of the school's discipline masters.

"I wonder who would send a lady like yourself to be a trainer. I'll let you in on one of the school's secrets. Fudoumine tennis club's current captain…is prone to violence. This was once published in the papers before the school had it silenced but…he had single handedly beaten up his former coach. Real nasty, that one."

Maiko paled. Her employer most certainly didn't mention anything about this. The man, not noticing her dilemma, began speaking of the club's main members, or regulars. Apparently there was a demon in the club, there was one who mutters like a demon in the club, and one with the strength of a demon in the club. She zoned out even as he continued talking, not wishing to listen on anymore. Just what kind of job had she landed herself into?

She grew increasingly nervous as she approached the tennis courts. There were only a handful of members there, practicing in two rather dilapidated courts. No wonder her employer had called this a "peasant's school". She had to agree. The ones here must belong to the not so well off families. Scanning the members quickly, she tried to spot who the "demons" were.

"No, no, Futsuka-san. These are only the non-regulars. The regulars are over there." He pointed at a group of people in black outfits.

Even as she approached the regulars, she could see all of them practicing. Cheerleading moves, apparently. She had a good first impression of them. To begin practice even without a coach yet, it was admirable.

Once she had reached them close enough, all good feelings she had towards the regulars evaporated.

For all of them were dressed in a sailor top, and a mini skirt. The man who was her guide remained expressionless (contrasting the look of shock on her face), as if he was used to seeing them in these kinds of outfits. He casually introduced her as their new trainer, and Maiko found seven pairs of eyes focused on her instantly.

"Oh? You're the new trainer? I'm glad. We do need all the help we can get because none of us know anything about cheerleading. I'm the club captain Tachibana Kippei, by the way. Yoroshiku."

"Yoroshiku…" She was too stunned to say anything anyway, except to repeat the greeting automatically. Just what were these boys thinking, wearing like that? The horror!

If that wasn't bad enough, Tachibana had then called over his shoulder, addressing his teammates. "Yosh! Let's show our new teacher what we've been practicing so far. One, two, three…"

Instantly, Maiko found herself in male hula paradise. All the regulars, holding two mineral water bottles in each hand, were swaying their hips to imaginary Hawaiian music, their mini skirts swishing from side to side. All they lacked now was a sea, sand and coconut tree backdrop to complete the picture.

"Well, sensei. How was it?" Tachibana, supposedly the violence-prone one, asked even as he continued on with this dance.

Maiko swayed on the spot on the while, then fainted dead away.

"Sensei!!!"

XXX

Even after Maiko had regained consciousness, she still hadn't been able to find her voice for a while, the horror of what she had seen stunning her to silence.

Instead, she handed Tachibana a rather fanciful letter, which the Fudoumine captain took after giving her his thanks.

Tachibana carefully opened the letter, feeling reluctant to just tear through the intricate looking piece of paper. He unfolded the parchment contained in the envelope and began reading quietly to himself.

_To the peasant Tachibana Kippei, captain of Fudoumine,_

_Ore-sama usually doesn't write letters personally to people who are not of ore-sama's status, but since I consider you to be a person of Tezuka's class, I'll make an exception._

_As you would most probably have heard, ore-sama has kindly extended an invitation to your peasants' school for an inter-school cheerleading competition. The participants are Seishun Gakuen and, of course, ore-sama's very own Hyotei Gakuen. While your unseeded school's reputation and skills are nothing to boast about, I do hope that you'd at least be able to display a performance on that day which is worth ore-sama's notice._

_I will be sending a coach to your school along with this letter. Rest assured that you will find the coach to be very capable. Then again, that's of course. Ore-sama never makes mistakes when it comes to selecting coaches. I expect to see you on the day of the competition._

_The winner is,_

_Ore-sama, Atobe Keigo. Be awed by my beautiful handwriting._

"Urm…Tachibana-san?" Kamio asked uncertainly. His eyes were glancing down nervously at Tachibana's hands, which were shaking rather violently.

Tachibana's head whipped up again, and, without losing his smile, tore the letter in two and promptly dumped it into the nearest bin. He then turned to his stunned regulars. "Yosh! We don't have any time to waste. Let's begin practice."

His ever loyal regulars echoed their agreement to that statement. Tachibana turned to the coach and gave a bow. "Sensei, please guide us from now onwards."

"Of course, of course." The coach had finally found some of her voice back.

Tachibana smiled. "Well then. What are your instructions?" He asked, eager to begin practice and prove that diva wrong.

Maiko finally looked up. "Firstly…" She raised a shaking finger and pointed it at all of them. "Get rid of that ridiculous outfit!"

XXX

That certainly was an enlightening experience. Tachibana wasn't exactly at fault. He had only seen the _girls'_ cheerleading performance so far, and had never known that the _guys'_ cheerleading team had a different outfit, and different moves altogether.

They got down to work immediately. For the first few practices, the poor coach still couldn't look at any of them in the eye. The brain-scarring experience was still fresh in her mind.

She instructed them on the basics, which all of them needed, as none of them had any experience, nor do they have much knowledge about cheerleading. Also, a cheerleading team needed a minimum of 12 members, and since their existing regulars only consisted of seven people, five non-regulars had to be roped into the team.

While they were inexperienced in cheerleading, they were also, if anything, very enthusiastic learners. Under Tachibana's leadership, they followed all of the coach's instructions without fail.

Maiko beamed. Things were looking optimistic for them. Whatever it was, they must beat Seigaku!

XXX

Group A (Tachibana, Kamio)

This team, which was located in the centre, consisted of Tachibana, Kamio, and a third year non-regular. Tachibana and the non-regular, Kita were the bases, while Kamio was the flyer.

Tachibana, being the main base, made use of his leadership experience to coordinate the group.

Their first attempt had been disastrous, in the sense that Kamio, eager to follow instructions, had missed the count.

"I'm feeling the rhythm!" He declared, already preparing to mount both bases.

"No, Kamio! You're too fast!" Tachibana's warning came too late. Kamio had, with a leap, mounted…and flattened poor Kita.

"Ah, gomenasai, Kita-senpai." A flustered Kamio ended up trampling over the fallen third year's back in his haste to get off, leaving a few shoe-prints there.

"Kamio, you're too impatient. Come on now, let's try this again." Tachibana chided.

Somehow, Kamio lived up to his nickname as the speed demon. He kept getting the count wrong, and was always a step faster than the two bases. More and more footprints were added to the poor third year non-regular's back, and one time, he had landed on Tachibana in an odd sort of a piggyback ride.

"Gomenasai, Tachibana-buchou." The vice-captain looked incredibly guilty.

Tachibana sighed. "It can't be helped. Cheerleading is quite out of our league. We'll try this several more times. Eventually we'll get the hang of it."

Kamio nodded. However, he was struck by a sudden thought, and, requesting for a short break, went to his bag and retrieved his MP3 player. Putting on the earphones, the familiar beat-filled music filled his senses, and he nodded his head to the beat, while tapping one foot on the ground at the same time. After five minutes, he removed the earphones and returned to a patiently waiting Tachibana and a wary Kita.

"Done warming up, Kamio?" Tachibana asked.

Receiving a nod from his vice-captain, the captain too gave an answering nod of his own. "Yosh. Let's continue then."

This round, Kamio hummed softly to himself, remembering the music he had just heard, and it kept his rhythm steady. At long last, he mounted the bases without giving them any additional makeup or shoe-prints. Realizing his success, Kamio gave a cheer, pumping one fist into the air.

"That's the spirit. Good work, Kamio." Tachibana gave a compliment to the flyer even as the bases lowered him carefully to the ground. Kamio beamed to that. "Arigatou, Tachibana-buchou."

Group A was a success. Two more groups to go.

XXX

Group B (Ishida, Sakurai, Ibu)

The second group, who would be positioned on the right of the first group, was all ready to begin their training too, having finished all the basics in no time.

Shinji stared skeptically at his teammates, eyeing their outstretched hands with undisguised distrust.

"Come on now, Shinji. We're supposed to be practicing the moves." Sakurai urged.

The blue-haired player didn't budge at all, still staring at the two bases, feeling rather reluctant to leave the safety of firm, solid ground.

"Why must I be the flyer? Why can't Sakurai-san be the flyer? I don't like this na. We're supposed to be playing tennis, not doing cheerleading. What was Kamio thinking when he got us into this mess in the first place? What should I do na? If I get on their hands, I may fall and crack my head, and I wouldn't be able to play tennis anymore because I'm in the hospital. If I don't get on soon, coach is going to be angry, and Tachibana-buchou is going to be unhappy. What should I do? Should I get on or should I remain on the ground? Speaking of Tachibana-buchou, Kamio-kun is so lucky to be in his team. I wanted to be in Tachibana-buchou's team-"

"Shinji!" Ishida cut him off, getting mildly impatient.

The blue-haired player turned his attention back to his bases. "Sorry." He mumbled. He tentatively lifted one foot off the ground, feeling safer if he had the other foot still planted firmly on the ground. Carefully, he prodded Ishida's palm with the lifted foot, his gesture similar to someone testing the temperature of bathwater with the tip of their toes.

"Shinji." Sakurai had to hold back a groan of frustration. "That's not how you're supposed to mount. You'll never be able to get on our palms that way."

"That's right, Ibu-kun. Trust in your teammates. Come on now, just hold on to their shoulders for balance and give one leap up onto their palms. You two, keep your eyes on your flyer at all times." Maiko had walked over at seeing their team having difficulties, and she gave them instructions.

"Leave it to me, Shinji. There's no way I'd drop you." Ishida reassured, rolling up one sleeve to show his muscles to indicate his strength.

Finally making up his mind, Shinji obeyed, bouncing up onto their palms gracefully. However, while Ishida was the hadoukyuu player, and possessed a lot of strength, it was one thing hitting powered shots and another thing lifting a human being altogether. Caught by surprise (for he hadn't expected Shinji to be this heavy), he nearly dropped the blue-haired player.

After tottering backwards a few steps, both Ishida and Sakurai managed to keep their balance, which prevented Shinji from suffering a nasty fall. However, Shinji didn't seem ready to forgive them for the scare just yet.

"That Ishida-kun. So much for him being a stable base. To think he almost dropped me. Mattaku…what if I had fallen. I might have injured my leg. I might have broken my arm. I might have hit my head and gotten amnesia. Sakurai too must be still holding a grudge against me because I haven't returned his 100 yen. How stingy…"

The two bases were highly tempted to drop him for real. "Shinji!"

"Sumimasen." Again, his mumbled apology.

Throughout practice, Shinji's voice droned on and on like a mantra for group B, while both Sakurai and Ishida wore long suffering looks on their faces, but otherwise, their practice too was a success.

Two groups done, one more to go.

XXX

Group C (Uchimura, Mori)

This group would be positioned at group A's left, and for this team, neither Uchimura nor Mori had much arm strength, so they had selected a first year non-regular to be their group's flyer.

The first year, a boy of a very small, light built, followed their instructions obediently, not giving them much trouble as he mounted, dismounted and performed stunts with relative ease. They worked together as a team, and before long, had even managed to learn the Cradle (where the bases would catch the flyer when he falls backwards, supporting his back and his legs) and the Extension.

"You're doing well, Ken-chan." Uchimura, the front killer called up to the flyer.

The youngest in the group smiled, carefully balancing himself on their palms. "It's all thanks to senpai-tachi's instructions." He gave a hop and allowed himself to fall backwards, trusting the two bases to catch him, which they did.

They tried several moves, and managed to learn all of them in just a few rounds.

"We've succeeded! Tachibana-san is going to be so proud." Mori cheered, turning to the captain's team.

Apparently…their beloved captain wasn't looking at them, still too busy minding his own stunt group. In fact, none of the spectators were looking at them, all focusing their attention on either group A, or group B. To top that off, not even the coach was looking at them, as she was too busy supervising Shinji's group.

"We…we're being ignored…" Mori muttered forlornly, even as a cold gust of wind blew past the two relatively unknown regulars.

Well, all three teams are now done with practicing their stunts. It was now time to coordinate all teams.

XXX

Maiko beamed as she watched the three stunt group's performance. Tachibana was a master at coordinating his team. At his instructions, all of his teammates moved to position, mounted and dismounted at the same time, choreographed their dance moves perfectly. Yes, everything was absolutely flawless…

…except one thing…

The poor coach was being ignored. She held as much significance in their eyes as the ball cart nearby. Either that or they must have mistaken her for one of the trees surrounding the courts.

The Fudoumine regulars all had the same habit.

"Tachibana-san, am I doing this right?"

"Tachibana-san, what is the next move?"

"Tachibana-san, how should this stunt be performed again?"

It was always Tachibana-san this, and Tachibana-san that. They wouldn't ask the coach directly for instructions or advice, instead, they'd ask their beloved captain, who would then ask her, and she'd pass the instructions to him and he in turn would pass it to his team.

Any time now they might even be erecting a shrine for their captain.

It was incredibly frustrating, with none of them approaching her at all, but she was willing to swallow her pride. As long as they could beat Seigaku, nothing else mattered.

"Yosh! Minna! Let's aim for first place…and defeat Seigaku!" She told them.

Finally, they noticed her presence, as all turned their heads towards her. "Why Seigaku only? I believe we do have to beat Hyotei too."

"Of course you should be concentrating more on Seigaku. After all, wasn't it one of Seigaku's regulars who had gotten all of you into this mess in the first place?" She had lowered her voice, directing that statement at Kamio.

The effect was instantaneous, as Kamio's eyes instantly blazed with determination. "You're absolutely right! We'll show that bike thief and his teammates. Yosh, everyone! Let's beat Seigaku!" The vice-captain led the cheer.

Maiko smiled. Mission accomplished.

Fudoumine was ready. Would they be able to win the competitions?

To be continued…

**Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.**

-Gwyn


	4. Hyotei

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I'd die of happiness if I did. Sadly, I don't.**

**Warning: Extreme silliness.**

**Pairings: Vague.**

**Jenny**, lol. Mind, the muse you chained is now rattling my desk, and it's getting hard to write. XD. Glad you liked the pompom part. Tachibana's sacrifice was not in vain then. Hmm…if you do erect a shrine for BeGo-sama or Rai-chan, what statues are you going to put in front of it? XD

**Aira**, glad you liked the chapter. Hope you'll enjoy this chappie too.

**Kira**, ah yes. Poor, poor Tachibana-buchou, forced to wear a skirt thanks to one sadistic authoress. I wonder who the culprit is… (Gwyn whistles innocently)

To the story then…

**Prince of Cheerleading**

By: Gwynhafra

Chapter 4

Hyotei Gakuen was hardly a peaceful place. At any moment, at any time, someone might just suddenly burst out chanting "the winner of Hyotei" or "the winner is Atobe", and that would ruin the overall peace at the tennis courts.

This round, however, a different yell rang out altogether.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Apparently, Atobe Keigo, the culprit of another two school's dilemma, had just dropped the news on his own team too.

Currently, the regulars had a whole myriad of expressions on their faces. There were the stunned (Ootori, Mukahi, and Hiyoshi), the angry (Shishido), the expressionless (Oshitari and Kabaji) and the devoid-of-reaction (Jirou. He was sleeping)

Atobe wore a rather smug expression on his face, and from his demeanor, one could have mistaken him to have given the announcement that they had won the 20 million yen jackpot instead.

"As I said, ore-sama has organized a Cheerleading competition, and we will be participating in it. Seigaku and Fudoumine will be participating too."

"Have you gone nuts, Atobe? We're just months away from the Kantou Games, and you want us to be bouncing around doing cheers? More importantly…those two schools actually agreed to that crazy idea of yours?" Shishido demanded.

Oshitari adjusted his glasses. "I hardly think that they had a choice." He said in an undertone.

Atobe didn't hear him (luckily). He gave a sweep of his arms, looking very much like a king addressing his subjects, and a flick of his hair. "Now then. Ore-sama believe there are no other objections, so let us begin our discussion."

He gave a snap of his fingers, and instantly Kabaji brought him a chair, as well as a table, and an umbrella too. Atobe sat down, accepted the glass of punch Kabaji offered to him and took a sip first before he placed the glass back down on the table. Only then did he turn back to his 'loyal subjects'.

With how he was taking his own sweet time, Shishido's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets any moment, if his eyes went any wider, that was.

"Now then. Ore-sama believe that most of you here do have some knowledge regarding cheerleading…" The diva began his speech.

"That's of course. You made us watch the cheerleading competition at least once every year. Na, Yuushi?" Gakuto muttered in an undertone.

Oshitari smirked, knowing that the acrobatic player hated going to these 'compulsory competitions', since he always ended up falling asleep instead. "Now now, Gakuto. You know how much Atobe likes cheerleading."

It was, perhaps, one of Hyotei's best kept secrets.

Apparently…Atobe Keigo, captain of the tennis club and self proclaimed king of Hyotei, was formerly a cheerleader back in his elementary school days, and his team was also three-time champion of the best cheer award. That was why his tennis always had a touch of grace and elegance to it.

Thanks to that, his regulars were frequently requested (forced?) to join him in watching those competitions, and aside from the good-natured Ootori, the expressionless Kabaji, the nonchalant Oshitari and the sleepy Jirou, the rest of them were less than pleased with the annual arrangement. Shishido was especially vocal in voicing his dissatisfaction.

"Why don't you ask _them_ to do this cheerleading thing instead? They're more than happy to volunteer, I'm sure." Shishido jabbed a finger in Atobe's massive cheering squad's direction. Seemingly taking Shishido's gesture as a cue, the bunch of males and females instantly erupted into cheers of different pitches and octaves, ranging from sopranos to altos, and tenors.

Atobe gave a careless wave of his hand. "Nonsense. Seigaku and Fudoumine are doing their own stunts. I'm sure our grand school Hyotei Gakuen is more than competent to do so too. I'll show that Tezuka and Tachibana just how inferior they are, especially that Tezuka…" Atobe had clenched a fist and had some kind of an evil smirk on his face. His regulars could only imagine what was going on in that diva's mind. Probably visualizing himself beating the Seigaku and Fudoumine captains flat and stepping on their heads.

He spun around again once he had snapped out of his thoughts, and he declared to all his regulars. "Now then, before any of you have any ideas to taking over my throne, ore-sama will, of course, be in the main stunt group, and ore-sama will be taking the role of flyer. Such a glorious position is reserved for ore-sama, of course."

Instantly, the others gave him a once over, and, at the same time, the same question escaped their lips.

"Who on earth will be able to carry you…?"

Atobe merely gave a smirk, either not hearing or not taking any offence to the insult of his weight. He gave a snap of his fingers. "Kabaji."

"Usu." The bulky sophomore moved instantly. He single-handedly tossed Atobe up into the air. The diva did a roll in midair and landed perfectly on Kabaji's shoulders, smirking at his friends, all of whom now wore an expression of awe. Gakuto and Shishido most definitely wouldn't be protesting now, not with their mouth hanging open like that. Atobe's moves spoke years of experience. Poor Seigaku and Fudoumine wouldn't stand a chance.

"Now then, do any of you peasants have anything to say?" Atobe asked, looking perfectly comfortable even though he was standing so high up.

Receiving no response, Atobe dismounted gracefully before giving his hair another flick.

"Ore-sama have already placed each of you into stunt groups of four. Refer to the board for your respective groups." Atobe announced, going back to sit on the chair again. Once more, Kabaji fetched him a drink.

Gakuto frowned. "How mean. We don't get to pick our own groups?" The childish acrobatic player looked like he was about to throw a tantrum, and Oshitari tried to pacify him.

Atobe gave a smirk. "I'm sure you won't have any complaints with the arrangements. You should be awed by ore-sama's group-arranging skills. Before I forget, ore-sama will now introduce our coach. Kantoku, this way please."

As the coach for their cheerleading team stepped forward, the regulars' jaws dropped for real.

"Ah…you are…" – Ootori

"Nanya. I knew you can't possibly be _just _the music teacher you claim to be." – Oshitari

For their coach…was no other than Sakaki Tarou, their ever mysterious coach.

Atobe seemed pleased to catch them all looking so surprised. He gave them a moment to collect their jaws off the ground before speaking again. "Ore-sama assure you that he is quite experienced in this. Now then. Let's begin practice. Just follow ore-sama's lead and you will be fine. Kantoku?"

Sakaki gave a nod, then used his trademark hand sign, pointing with his index finger and his middle finger. "Itteyoshi!"

XXX

Group A (Atobe, Kabaji, Taki)

To say that Atobe was an experienced cheerleader was an understatement. That guy knew what he was doing, and his moves were absolutely flawless.

He also had the advantage of Kabaji as his main base, and the sophomore's strength and quick-learning abilities proved to be very useful indeed. For most of the stunts, Atobe just needed Kabaji as base, and poor Taki and the non-regular (who served as support) were left to their own devices most of the time.

"Now then, Kabaji. Use the Extension." Atobe was very, very pleased. He only needed to give instructions once and Kabaji absorbed it into his mind immediately.

"Usu." The sophomore didn't need telling twice. With his monstrous strength, he lifted Atobe up and instantly extended both hands, not even needing a pause in between that particular stunt.

Atobe continued to awe his cheering squad by doing a demonstration of advanced stunts. When Kabaji lifted him up with just one hand, Atobe too stood on one foot only, while the free leg was held at a 90 degrees angle, with the toes pointed downwards--a stunt known as the Liberty.

Next, that leg was stretched to the side instead, as Atobe performed the stunt known as the Stars, a stunt which required a lot of balance control.

Sakaki hardly needed to supervise this team. He dropped by only once, but gave a nod of approval and moved on to the other stunt groups instead. Atobe even went so far as to do the Twisting Cradle (similar to the drop, except that the flyer twists his body in a roll as he falls) during the very first practice, though of course he had first specifically instructed (threatened) Taki, the other half of the base, on the proper way to catch him and not drop him.

Taki didn't manage the first time, and Atobe rolled into Kabaji's arms instead. The sophomore dutifully set the diva back on the ground before going back to statue mode, waiting for the next instructions regarding the stunts. Atobe rounded up on the former regular, who was looking more than a little cowed at having the Ice Emperor's glare fully focused on him.

"Didn't ore-sama mention that you're to keep your arms steady, ahn? If Kabaji hadn't caught me ore-sama would have cracked my beautiful head." Atobe looked rather livid as he said that.

"So sorry, Atobe-buchou. It will not happen again." Taki tried to sound placating.

Atobe gave a soft 'ceh'. "It can't be helped. You peasants can't match up to ore-sama's pace. Let's try again, and keep your hand steady this time."

The next part of practice was much better, and again, Atobe awed his fans with his stunts. "Ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na." The diva crowed.

He snapped his fingers, and instantly chants of "the winner is Atobe" filled the courts. Atobe basked in the attention for a moment before dismounting.

He gave Kabaji an appreciative pat on the shoulder. "Ore-sama will always be the best flyer. Na, Kabaji?"

"Usu." Came the reply instantly.

Atobe nodded, satisfied with the reply. "And you will only be the base for ore-sama, no other flyer. Right, Kabaji?"

"Usu."

Again, a nod of satisfaction. "And you will be loyal only to ore-sama, and no one else can take you as a base. Na, Kabaji."

"Usu."

Even as Atobe continued on with his speech, and Kabaji continued on with his monosyllabic answers, Taki and the non-regular exchanged looks.

"Why does it look like Atobe-buchou is trying to secure himself the strongest and steadiest base currently? Is he trying to make sure the other groups won't be able to take Kabaji?" The non-regular whispered.

Taki nodded sagely. "I think that is precisely what he's trying to do." To which, Kabaji answered at that precise moment.

"Usu."

XXX

Group B (Oshitari, Mukahi, Hiyoshi)

While Atobe had asked his regulars to 'follow his lead', it was a task easier said than done.

For while Atobe was experienced, the others were as new to cheerleading as they were to, say, fishing. Atobe had gone on to advanced stunts, pulling ahead of his team, who were left far, far behind to fend for themselves.

The group on Atobe's right, with Oshitari as the main base, was one of those who had to start from all the basic stunts. "Nanya…this is his idea of following the leader?" Oshitari muttered.

"It's alright, Yuushi. We'll show Atobe that we can perform the stunts without his help." Gakuto reassured.

They did some basic warm-ups within their group, and Sakaki came to give them brief instructions regarding the stunts. Gakuto was selected as flyer, since the group had considered his acrobatic abilities to be an advantage.

The acrobatic player was cautious, especially when they tried the lifts and extensions. He was more at home when they tried the 'toss' and 'cradle' skills. After just a few practices, the acrobatic player was able to get the hang of it, and wasn't frightened at all when they tossed him into the air again.

"This is pretty easy. Na, Yuushi." Gakuto grinned. Just like Atobe, he liked being a flyer, since that role seemed to be a magnet for attention. Already, some of Atobe's cheering squad was cheering for him too.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself ya. Better maintain your balance, Gakuto. You won't want me to drop you na." Oshitari replied with his kansai-accented drawl, though there was mild humour laced in his words.

Hiyoshi glanced up at acrobatic player, who was now waving to all the cheers. "Gekokujou…" It was only a matter of time before he overtook Gakuto and became flyer instead. Hiyoshi was pretty certain of it.

Gakuto had a gleam in his eyes. "Yosh! We'll even show Seigaku's Kikumaru just who the better flyer is. He can't beat me at acrobatics, he most certainly can't beat me at this either."

Oshitari sighed. "Gakuto, you honestly want to hold a grudge against him, don't you?"

Gakuto glanced towards the group on Atobe's left. Suddenly he burst out with laughter.

"Nanya? What are you laughing for, Gakuto?" Oshitari couldn't help asking.

Gakuto wiped his eyes. "Yuushi, Yuushi. Take a look at that. Ahahahaha! That guy is hilarious!"

XXX

Group C (Ootori, Shishido, Akutagawa)

"Yadda! Zettai yadda!"

Ootori sighed. "Shishido-senpai, don't be stubborn. You are the best for the position of flyer in this group. Come on now. We had better start practice or Atobe-buchou will get mad."

Unlike Atobe and Gakuto, Shishido had a completely different perception of the 'flyer' position altogether. He felt it to be the lesser and more submissive position in the whole stunt group, since the flyer was completely at the mercy of the bases.

Shishido, whose face was turning red from embarrassment, pointed a finger at Ootori. "Why must I be the flyer? Why can't you be the flyer? I'm the senior and you're the junior. I should be the one carrying you instead, not the only way around."

Before Ootori could reply, Sakaki had dropped by their group instead. "Very well. If you can lift Ootori-kun. You may be the flyer."

"Yosh! Stay still, Choutarou." Shishido rolled up his sleeves.

The sophomore obediently kept his arms to his sides. Shishido then tried to lift him, but no matter how he strained, he could barely carry Ootori. Instead, he ended up toppling over backwards, and Ootori flattened him.

"Shishido-senpai! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" Ootori scrambled off him hurriedly.

Shishido remained on the ground, looking rather dazed. "You're…heavy, Choutarou…go on a diet…" He passed out.

Ootori tried to rouse him. "Shishido-senpai, hang in there!" The scud serve player began shaking the third year.

Sakaki looked rather unfazed about it. "Shishido will be the flyer. That is all." Again, the two fingered hand sign. "Itteyoshi."

Once Shishido was back on his feet, the cap wearing player had no choice but follow Sakaki's direct order, though he was still unhappy at being lifted by his junior. He didn't like it at all. Not one bit.

He was a speedy player, and balance was not really one of his strengths. Needless to say, he had to put in a lot of effort to even stay upright once the bases had lifted him into the air. He ended up with his legs completely straight, and his hands locked to his sides. Once Ootori, the main base had lifted him into the air, he didn't even dare to budge at all, least he came falling down.

It wasn't helping that the other half of the base was half-asleep most of the time.

"Koraa! Jirou! You missed the count!" Shishido snapped at the orange-haired volley player, who was nodding away.

Jirou jolted awake, remembered what he was supposed to be doing and made a grab for Shishido's ankles to perform his duties as a base. However, instead of stabilizing the flyer, that caused Shishido to lose his balance instead, and Shishido repaid the favour earlier on by flattening Ootori, his legs landing on Ootori's chest.

"Choutarou! Gomen! Are you alright?" Shishido asked, looking worried.

"I'm fine, Shishido-senpai." Ootori managed to wheeze out, sounding as if all his breath was knocked out of him. Shishido had the cheek to call him heavy. It really was the pot calling the kettle black.

The air was filled with Gakuto's hysterical laughter. Shishido and Gakuto had never been the best of friends in the first place anyway, and throughout practice, Gakuto had been laughing at his performance non-stop. This, however, was the final straw.

"Do you want to fight, you midget?!" Shishido snarled.

Gakuto made a face at him. "Baka Shishido, you can't even do a stunt properly. It's so easy, look." The acrobatic player provoked him further by bouncing on Oshitari and Hiyoshi's hands.

"Why you…!" Shishido looked like he was about to pop a vein.

"Mukahi, Shishido, ground, 20 laps. When you return I expect the both of you to behave yourselves." Sakaki ordered.

Those two could be heard quarrelling all the way, and Sakaki sighed, massaging his temples. Atobe's group remained unfazed, despite being in the middle of the crossfire. Trust the diva to be so ignorant to whatever he deemed unimportant.

Sakaki lingered in this group the longest. They looked like they were having quite some trouble catching up with the rest.

"No, hold Shishido's ankles like that. Yes. Keep your eyes on the flyer at all times, Akutagawa! No sleeping in the middle of a stunt! Gah!" Even the coach lost his patience.

Sakaki pointed at Jirou. "You." He then moved his finger upwards and pointed at Shishido. "And you. Trade positions. Akutagawa. You're the flyer from now onwards."

Jirou seemed to like that arrangement, as he was wide awake instantly. "Suge! So I get to be lifted up high like that! I'm getting excited! Ootori-kun, Shishido, don't drop me." He chirped enthusiastically.

"Finally. Why couldn't Kantoku have made this arrangement since the start? Gekidasa." Shishido looked incredibly relieved. At least he wasn't the one being carried now. That had been incredibly humiliating for him.

Sakaki made no comment about that. Instead, he pointed to all three. "You may go!"

Practice for this group became much better after that. Really, they should have done this in the beginning and spared themselves all that trouble…

XXXXXX

Sakaki sighed, rubbing his forehead. Finally, all three teams had moved on to the dances, and as he watched, he realized one thing.

There would never be peace in Hyotei.

Shishido and Gakuto were fighting, as usual, and Ootori and Oshitari were attempting to pull them apart. Atobe was boasting, and getting all his cheering squad to make a hell of a racket for him, along with Kabaji's 'usu' and Hiyoshi's 'gekokujou'. The most peaceful person there was Jirou, who was now sleeping under a tree.

In spite of all that, Sakaki was confident that they were ready…or at least, almost ready.

Will Hyotei be the one to win the competitions?

To Be Continued…

A/N: Now then. All three teams are ready. Just who will emerge champions? Feel free to guess. Stay tune to the next chapter. (grins)

Kantoku-coach

Zettai yadda-Definitely not

Itteyoshi-You may go

**Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.**

-Gwyn


	5. Competition Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis or any of its characters. I only own the pompoms.**

**Warning: Extreme silliness.**

**Pairings: Vague.**

**Kira, **XD. You'll see who the…ah…winner is later. I couldn't help putting in that Silver Pair hint. :p

**Jenny**, Hehe. Yeah. Imagine buchou-chan beating BeGo-sama. I don't think Atobe will be that affected by Tezuka though. He'd be more affected if Echizen beats him. I think Neko-chan is going to kill me when she reads this chapter. XD

**Michiyo-chan**, hehe. I was tempted to put the ore-sama in a miniskirt, but decided against it in the end. Glad you liked the idea.

To the story then…

**Prince of Cheerleading**

By: Gwynhafra

Chapter 5

The day started with a bang.

It truly did, with all the fireworks flying around in broad daylight. That was what greeted the Seigaku cheerleaders eyes (and ears) when they first approached Atobe's personal indoor stadium, the venue for the cheerleading competitions.

It was a lot of fuss to make for a competition involving only three schools, but none of the regulars looked surprised to see the exaggerated fanfare over so small an issue. After all, this was the brainchild of Atobe Keigo, the very same person who had turned a minor argument into a major competition.

Tezuka looked up at the building, took in a deep, calming breath, exhaled and turned to his regulars.

"Saa. Yudan sezu ni ikkou."

XXX

The interior of the stadium was no less impressive than the exterior. Already, supporters for the three schools, as well as curious onlookers and scouts/data collectors had already filled the stadium.

Kikumaru glanced around before giving a low whistle. "Whoa. There's so many people nya." He waved his arms in the air as the Seigaku regulars walked through the entrance, and cheers rang from Seigaku's side of supporters. The sea of blue took a rather large part of the stands.

The acrobatic player grinned, pleased with the attention. Oishi chuckled and patted his doubles partner's shoulder. "Maa, whatever it is, let's give a good performance later so that we wouldn't let them down."

"Of course. Hmm…there doesn't seem to be that many people from Fudoumine." Kikumaru observed, noticing the sea of black, which was considerably smaller than the sea of blue.

Moving his gaze further, Kikumaru's eyes went wide at the sight of the sea of grey. "Whoa! Just how many people are from Hyotei?" The acrobatic player exclaimed.

For more than half of the stadium was filled with people wearing Hyotei's uniform, and all of them held banners and flags, most of which bore the name of the same person, beginning with the initials A. K.

"Most impressive. I've calculated that 67 percent of the people here are supporting Hyotei Gakuen. In terms of fan support, we're at a disadvantage." Inui reported, breathing behind Kikumaru's neck and causing him to give a yelp and hide behind Oishi.

Tezuka threw a side-glance at them. "It doesn't matter. We'll follow exactly as we have practiced. Minna, be sure to remember your moves, and keep to the counts." The last statement seemed to be directed at one first year prodigy, who merely gave the captain a smirk and pulled his cap lower over his head.

Seigaku's team headed towards the counter. "Seishun Gakuen's tennis club members, here with 12 people." Tezuka reported.

The officer behind the counter gave him a blank stare. Tezuka rephrased his words. "Seishun Gakuen's cheerleaders, here with 12 people."

"Ah. You're the first team to arrive. Your name is registered. Please wait for the drawing of lots, which will be done when the other two teams have arrived." The officer told him. Tezuka gave his thanks and led his team away.

Before long, Fudoumine arrived too. Tachibana gave Tezuka a curt nod. "It's good to see you here. Let's have a fair competition."

"Aa." Tezuka replied, shaking his hand.

"You have the nerve to show your face around here after all, bike thief!" Kamio spotted Momoshiro and exclaimed in disgust, pointing at him.

Momoshiro didn't look happy to see him either. "I'm not a bike thief. Besides, my being here, wasn't that all thanks to you in the first place?"

"Nani? How dare you put the blame on me? This wouldn't have happened if you didn't start hitting on Tachibana's little sister in the first place."

"I wasn't hitting on her! Ah…Ann…"

"See! You're even calling her by her given name! Eh? Ann!"

Both boys had caught sight of said girl at the Fudoumine stands, and she was waving cheerily in their direction.

Both boys waved back. That instantly sparked another war between them. "She was waving at me!" Kamio snarled.

"No she wasn't. Can't you see her looking towards my direction?" Momoshiro protested.

Even as the two hot-blooded males continued arguing, Ann continued to wave.

"Onii-chan! Ganbatte!" She called out.

"Aa. Don't worry about it." Tachibana called back, causing the two boys to facefault.

"She wasn't calling for either of you." Echizen the brat stated the obvious, further killing their pride. Moments later, Momo and Kamio had the first year in a headlock.

"Momoshiro, enough. We're all going to do warm-ups now." Tezuka gave the order, and the dunk smash player reluctantly allowed the brat to go.

They had barely walked a few steps when they heard a roar from Hyotei's side of the crowd.

"Hyotei! Hyotei! Hyotei! The winner is Hyotei, the winner is Atobe!"

Finally, the last team has entered the stadium.

"Oh? You peasants are here already, ahn? Tezuka, Tachibana." He gave both captains an arrogant stare.

He gave a sweep of his arms. "What do you think? Impressive, I'm sure. Be awed by my event planning."

"Mada mada dane." A bratty reply could be heard instantly.

Atobe turned to look at the prodigy standing next to the captains. Static could be seen crackling in the air as the two most arrogant cheerleaders to grace the scene engaged each other in a glaring match. Next to Atobe, Oshitari gave a sigh. "It has begun…" He muttered, to which Kabaji gave an affirmative "usu."

"Ne, Echizen. I don't care if you're a prince of something. In the world of cheerleading, I am king!" Atobe gloated proudly.

"Hmm? You're probably only adept at waving those pompoms and wearing those mini skirts." Echizen sneered.

Atobe gave a soft snort to that. "If I did anything of that sort, I'm sure I'll still look a thousand times better than if you had attempted to do the same."

"Heh. It doesn't matter. I'll beat you and become number one anyway." Echizen countered the boast.

"Oh? You? Overtake me? You're a hundred years too early. Very well, if ore-sama lose to you, I'll shave my head." Atobe declared.

"Hmm? Then if I lose to you, I'll shave my head too." Echizen agreed to the challenge, though a drop of sweat trickled down his head.

To both schools' horror, the two then began to laugh, first soft and slow, then building up to the point that both were near the point of hysterical, even though there really wasn't anything funny to laugh about (save the mental image of either of them bald).

To add to the noise pollution, Momoshiro and Kamio had renewed their argument, and Gakuto had challenged Kikumaru to some kind of a jump competition.

A vein popped in Tezuka's head. "Kikumaru, Momoshiro, Echizen! 20 laps around the stadium, now!"

XXX

The contestants weren't the only ones bickering. The tension could be felt surrounding the coaches too.

To be more exact, _two_ of the coaches.

"It has been a while, Tsubaragi. It's so _nice_ to see you again." Fudoumine's coach greeted icily, the gleam in her eyes indicating the complete opposite of her words.

"Oh, indeed, Futsuka. We haven't seen each other since our high school days. Such _wonderful_ memories." Seigaku's coach looked like she would love to let her fist do the talking and create even more _wonderful_ memories.

The third coach, Hyotei's Sakaki, was either oblivious or used to the hostility between the two females. He nodded to both curtly. "It has been a while, Futsuka, Tsubaragi."

"Ah. It has been a while indeed, Sakaki. This sure reminds one of our cheerleading days, doesn't it?" Futsuka now directed her attention to the Hyotei coach, ignoring her Seigaku counterpart.

Tsubaragi smiled sweetly. "Indeed. The atmosphere does feel the same, as do the teams. I'm sure that just like our time, there are good cheerleaders, and there are downright _pathetic_ ones too."

The hostility was back in the atmosphere. Both Seigaku and Fudoumine's coaches were literally trying to kill each other with their glares.

The three coaches actually were acquainted with each other back in their high school days. All three were, not surprisingly, from the cheerleading club, and all three were flyers. It was no secret that both Tsubaragi and Futsuka competed fiercely for the position of flyer in the main stunt group, resorting to sly tricks and evil methods to get it. They had never managed though, since Sakaki was the one chosen as the flyer of that group in the end. Still, the animosity between the two remained until now.

Sakaki turned to both of them. "It's almost time for the competition. We'll have to return to our respective teams. Good luck, you two." He shook both their hands.

They shook his hand graciously, but when they shook each other's, a loud crack echoed through the whole stadium, causing a few people to stare. It was not certain who was trying to break whose bones, most likely both were guilty of that, considering the amount of force exerted in that simple handshake, but when they finally let go, both returned to their teams with rather sore hands.

The same thought ran through both their heads at that moment.

'No matter what…I'll make sure my team beats yours…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The lots were drawn, and now, the first of the three participating team could be seen warming up at the sides, getting ready to head over to the stadium for their performance.

The speeches, as well as the stating of the rules could be heard booming from the speakers, but none of the boys took heed of it, all focused on the task ahead.

This team wore a slightly tight fitting blue and white outfit, similar to their tennis uniforms. The material was made to not restrict their movements, and was of an easy-dry quality too.

"This is the first time I'm doing cheerleading in an actual competition. I'm getting excited nya." Kikumaru chirped.

Kawamura didn't quite share his enthusiasm. "I'm getting a little nervous." He admitted.

Fuji said nothing. Instead, his ever present smile seemed to have gotten wider. Whipping out a racket from seemingly nowhere, Fuji handed it to Kawamura. "Here, Taka-san."

Before the power player could take it, Kaidou and Momoshiro had snatched for it at the same time, though the snake shot player was faster, taking the racket.

"Fuji-senpai! That was dangerous! You can't do that na, you can't do that yo." Momoshiro gasped, to which Kaidou gave a hiss in agreement.

Their coach Tsubaragi glanced up. "It's almost time. Everyone, are you ready? Make sure you beat Fudoumine."

"I'm keener on beating Hyotei…" Echizen muttered. Kikumaru gave an enthusiastic nod at that.

Tsubaragi inched over to Momoshiro's side. "What do you think, Momoshiro-kun? Think you want to let Fudoumine's Kamio-kun beat you?"

"Hell no!" Momoshiro snarled, punching one fist into the air. He rolled up his sleeves. "We can't let them win na, we can't yo." He muttered, marching in the direction of the arena.

"Momoshiro!" Tezuka's stern voice stopped him.

"What?" Momoshiro asked, eager to get it done with.

Tezuka frowned at him. "We're not called to perform yet."

Momoshiro then realized he was the only one walking towards the arena. The rest were still standing there, waiting for their team to be called.

"Oh." The dunk smash player promptly turned bright red. Right. Memo to self. Enter only when your team was called.

XXX

"Ladies and gentlemen, our first team for the day, Seigaku!" The announcement was made, and the announcer jogged away just as the Seigaku cheerleaders entered the stadium to thunderous applause from the sea of blue.

The judges sat in a row before the huge mat, where the performance was to be done. There were ten judges in total, each grading different aspects. All of them watched the Seigaku team enter, their expressions set with professionalism.

As the blue-uniformed team got into position, however, the judges' hands moved as one, already deducting points. Rule number one in cheerleading. All team members were to maintain a smile on their face, yet there was someone frowning like everyone and everything in the stadium had offended him.

The person frowning turned to them, seemingly knowing what they were doing. For a brief moment, he smiled. Or at least, attempted to. Instantly three of the ten judges gave a squeak of horror and passed out on the spot, leaving only seven judges left seated with their jaws hanging open. The person stopped smiling, and the judges' hands moved as one again, and this round, it was to give bonus points for that wise decision. He was better off not smiling.

The music began playing, and all judges' heads whipped up as old, grandfather music filled the stadium. They exchanged bewildered looks amongst themselves. This…was a cheerleading competition right? So what was with these oldies?

The other two teams, still getting ready for their performance, looked up as well. Tachibana chuckled. "As expected of Tezuka. Traditional to the very core."

"The winner will be Hyotei." Atobe smirked.

The Seigaku members moved instantly, all dancing to the music. It was a good thing the sound of the 'koto' provided enough beats for them to follow. Overall, coordination for this team was average. There were mistakes here and there, as feet landed at the wrong timing, or the jumps weren't perfectly coordinated.

Their performance improved when it came to the stunts. The flyers of the groups at the sides were excellent, moving with precise timing. They could both hold their balance very well, though in the first attempt, the brunette flyer's group looked a little shaky, as one of the bases, a muscular brunette, had seemed nervous. He got over it when the flyer smiled though.

The base in the centre was moderate. Compared to the other two flyers, this one didn't keep his balance with ease, and could be seen needing quite a bit of effort to keep his stunts from being shaky. However, he was of a small built, and the bases could hold him up easily.

Their scoring points came from one of the stunts. The bulky brunette lifted both the brunette flyer and the redheaded flyer on each of his palms, and the two flyers waved at the audience, causing them to burst into applause. Such monstrous strength! The judges' heads were seen bent over the pieces of papers as they gave the scores.

Also, this team looked to have another scoring point. The average flyer in the main stunt group had his light weight as an advantage, and playing to that advantage, his bases did the basket toss, where they held each other by the wrists, preparing to toss the flyer. The flyer then mounted and they tossed him into the air, launching him up high. Even the judges looked mildly awed at the height the flyer was able to reach. He gave all of them a 'mada mada dane' smirk all the way up, and when he reached the peak of the launch, he did a toe-touch, his fingers tapping the tip of his toes briefly before falling back down gracefully, where the bases caught him.

That marked the end of their performance, and applause broke out once more as the Seigaku cheerleaders waved before exiting the arena.

The judges were given a brief moment to finalize the scores before handing the sheets over to the officers for the marks to be added up. One team was done. Two more to go.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What's taking them so long na…" A person muttered in a heavy kansai accent. His arms were folded across his chest, while his bespectacled gaze was fixed on the arena, waiting for their team to be called to perform.

The second team, decided by the drawing of lots, wore grey and white, similar to their tennis outfit. Also, by command of the team captain, the whole team donned silk material. As Atobe had put it, this was to ensure maximum comfort during performance, a statement met with skeptical stares from both Oshitari and Shishido.

"Remember, my loyal subjects. All of you are to follow ore-sama's lead. You may marvel at my beautiful skills, but don't miss the count. Do you understand?" Atobe ordered, giving his fellow cheerleaders an ice emperor glare.

Shishido snorted. "We would know that even if you didn't mention it. Don't look down on us, Atobe."

"Hmph. Don't forget that you're nowhere near my level yet, Shishido, so it's not really your place to comment. You still have a lot more to work on before you can reach ore-sama's standard of cheerleading." Atobe gloated.

"That sounded disturbingly like Seigaku's Echizen's lines." Oshitari muttered. It was a good thing Atobe didn't hear him.

One of the men standing near the entrance raised a hand. "It's almost your turn. Please get ready."

"About time. We'll be going now, Kantoku." Atobe told the coach, who was standing just a few feet away from the team.

Sakaki gave a nod, then gave his trademark two fingered point. "Itteyoshi!"

XXX

The judges knew, even before the team had entered the arena, just who was coming up next, for the crowd of grey had not kept quiet for even one moment, and their cheers were, honestly speaking, starting a headache for the poor judges.

When the Hyotei team entered, the judges were blinded momentarily by the amount of glitter on their uniform. As expected of Atobe Keigo, the organizer of this competition. Trust his team to look the flashiest.

Atobe gave a snap, and the crowd went blessedly quiet. Before the judges could breathe a sigh of relief, however, Atobe had declared. "The winner…will be me!" The crowd exploded again, and once more, the seven had to nurse a renewed headache.

The music began, and instantly the Hyotei team kicked into action, all doing their dances and their jumps. When they did the toe-touch (where they jump with their legs spread open in a 'V' shape and their hands touching their toes) there was the sound of fabric ripping, and a few eyebrows had shot up at that. It was uncertain who the unfortunate victim was, though the bulkiest member in the team had gone slightly pink. The same question ran through the seven's minds. _Just who was the "genius" who had made them wear silk for a cheerleading performance anyway?_

Coordination-wise…well…the judges had seen much better from the Seigaku cheerleaders. Feet were landing all over the place, and the cartwheels were rather messy. There were near collisions, and a sleepy looking team member had trod on one of Atobe's feet. The diva hadn't made a sound to that though, having been in enough competitions to know that marks will be deducted if he did. The judges could also sense the animosity between the two stunt groups at the sides, if the not so subtle glares exchanged were saying anything.

At least the stunts were good. The two stunt groups at the sides were very stable, keeping their stunts as perfect as possible. The redheaded flyer on the right, especially, had an incredible sense of balance. Also, when they did the basket toss, he too was launched up very high, although he failed to reach the height the Seigaku flyer had.

They did well, but Atobe's group far overshadowed the other two stunt groups at his sides. Several of the seven had, in the past, seen Atobe's performance before, and they knew how experienced he was. Throw any stunt at Atobe, and he would be able to execute it perfectly.

Indeed, the diva was good, and he knew it. He gave another snap, and his cheering squad seated all around the stands burst into chants of his name. Being the flyer of the main stunt group, he was the centre of attraction for his whole team, and he enjoyed the attention thoroughly. The fan support boosted the Hyotei team's morale, making all their cheers extremely spirited. They used props too, with Atobe waving pompoms, while the other two flyers held banners, one of which wrote "The winner is Hyotei" and the other wrote "Ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na".

Their scoring move was when Atobe did the 360 degrees elevator, mounting Kabaji's palm and turning 360 degrees, facing the front, where the panel of judges were seated. He then did the twisting cradle, landing perfectly in his bases' arms before mounting again, the bases instantly extending their arms all the way once he was standing on their palms. With Atobe in the centre, the other two flyers then mounted, and their bases too had used an extension. The flyers at the sides then lifted a foot each and placed that foot on Atobe's palms. With that, a perfect pyramid was formed.

When the performance was done, the whole stadium rang with the applause and cheers from Hyotei's supporters even as they left the arena, with Atobe leading his team away, a hand raised in the air to drive his schoolmates and supporters even crazier. The panel of seven sighed and worked on the scores again. Two teams down. One more to go.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"There are so many people out there."

The last team to perform, a team all dressed in a black outfit, was now getting ready at the sides. Tachibana had just given all of them a final briefing on their stunts, and had even offered a few soothing words to his nervous team members. Nearby, Kamio leaned again the wall, his head nodding to the beat of his MP3 player, as he got himself into the rhythm. Ishida was doing pushups as part of his warm-up exercise, while Shinji was also exercising…his mouth.

"It's finally our turn. I'm excited…and nervous at the same time. We've practiced so many times so it should be fine, but what if it's not fine. There are so many people out there watching and they might laugh if we make even the smallest mistake. I want this to be over with. Ah, why are we the last team…" Shinji droned on, causing some of his teammates to get nervous again.

Tachibana patted him on the shoulder. "Calm down, Shinji. If we follow as we have practiced, we should be fine. I've left the choosing of the songs to Kamio, and I've seen all your performances so far. I have to say I'm very proud of you, and I have faith that all of you will do well."

"Tachibana-buchou." At his speech, all of them gazed at him respectfully, touched to hear such words from their beloved captain.

Shinji was affected too. At least his words didn't sound so spirit-dampening after that. "How nice, Tachibana-san. We're truly lucky to have him as a captain. I'll bet Seigaku and Hyotei's captains aren't so nice. We're going to have an advantage, Yosh, we'll do our best and not let him down…"

"Shinji. It's our turn now. Let's go." Ishida told the blue-haired player at hearing their team called.

"…and we'll win this competition no matter what. I'm sure Seigaku and Hyotei will be very strong opponents, but we shouldn't have a problem if we have Tachibana-san…"

"Shinji, we're going to leave you behind, you know…" Kamio warned as he jogged past.

XXX

The judges watched as the last team walked out onto the mat, all getting ready for their performance. This team didn't really stand out, not with their uniforms, and definitely not with their fan support, since the applause was more subdued as compared to the other two schools.

They got into position relatively fast, not wasting much time, and a few of the judges gave an approving nod. The team captain then raised a hand, requesting for the music to begin.

As the music played, smiles spread upon the faces of the judges. They already have a very good first impression of this team. Despite the very humble appearance, they have a very tasteful choice in music, and while the choice of music didn't affect the scores, a few of the judges were secretly tapping their feet to the beats.

The team moved as one. All eyes were trained on the front, where their team captain was, and all followed his lead. There were no mistakes with the jumps, none with the dances, and the stunt groups were so perfectly coordinated. It was difficult to believe this was their first performance. Indeed, a few of the seven judges vocalized positive comments even as they gave the scores.

This team didn't have any particularly difficult stunts, keeping all their moves simple yet precise. This was, perhaps, the only part where they lost out to the previous two teams. However, their stunts were perfect, and that prevented them from losing points unnecessarily, which gave them equal footing with the two stronger teams.

The final stunt helped their scores, as Ishida carried Shinji with one hand, lifting him into the air in an Extension. Shinji then did the Liberty, standing only on one foot, with his other foot lifted with his toes pointed downwards. On either side of Shinji's group, two flyers did a shoulder sit on two bases, while another two of the team members stood at the sides, forming a fan-like pattern. Simultaneously, all of them held up flashcards, which formed the sentence "Guys don't cheer with poms!"

The judges smiled. They already have a winner in mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With that, the three teams' performances were done with, and all that was left now were the scores and the prize giving ceremony.

The main stunt groups were asked to give a performance before the scores were announced. Seigaku, Hyotei and Fudoumine's main stunt groups graced the scene once more.

By request of the audience, the three stunt groups were asked to do their best stunts, which would also give them bonus points. Seigaku, of course, did the basket toss. Hyotei did the 360 degrees elevator, as well as the twisting cradle. Fudoumine did the Extension and the Liberty.

The peace between the three teams would have been maintained, if it wasn't for Echizen and Atobe being on the same mat. It was never a good idea to put those two within close proximity.

"Echizen. You call that a Basket Toss?" Atobe's smug voice could be heard.

A vein popped on the Seigaku's prodigy's head. This was his best skill, and he'd defend it with his pride if he had to.

"Hmm? You're one to talk, with that mada mada twisting cradle of yours." Echizen retorted.

"Ore-sama will not be taking comments from someone who flaps like a chicken in a basket toss."

"And I'm not listening to someone writhing like an eel during a simple twisting cradle stunt either."

The argument got heated, both parties forgetting that this was still in the middle of a competition. Not even their bases could make them keep quiet.

"Echizen! Stay still! I'm having trouble trying to carry you." Tezuka hissed up at him.

"Atobe-buchou…" Kabaji too was looking shaky.

"Let's keep away, Tachibana-san." Kamio suggested, looking wary.

The Fudoumine captain shook his head. "That's not the right thing to do. We have to remind them that we're in the middle of a competition."

The peacemaker then went between the two, trying to pacify them, but ended up getting caught in the crossfire. A war sparked, flames were thrown, and in the end, all three stunt groups fell, landing in a heap of limbs on the mat.

One of the judges stood up. Her face was white and her whole form shaking with fury. "You…all three of you…you're all disqualified!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Man…that was so disappointing." Momoshiro sighed. All Seigaku members were giving Echizen the "it's all your fault" look.

"We've worked so hard, and we've lost just like that in the end nya. Inui! Make sure you give ochibi your latest invention!" Kikumaru pointed at the culprit.

"Indeed I will." Inui promised, his voice low.

Tezuka's glasses were flashing. "Echizen! 100 laps when we get back!"

The Seigaku regular packed their belongings and made their way back to the bus, which was their mode of transport here in the first place. Tezuka nodded to Tachibana, who was leaving with his team on another bus. "It's a pity, but we'll have to continue some other time."

"Aa. We'll see you on the courts then." Tachibana agreed.

Just then, there was the sound of the microphone being switched on. Atobe's voice could be heard booming from inside the stadium.

"Since this competition was organized by ore-sama, by default, if all teams had ended in a draw, the winner will be Hyotei. Echizen, come here."

"Haa? The winner is Hyotei? That's not fair and…Echizen! Where are you going?" Momoshiro asked at seeing the prodigy flee.

"I'm going to do those laps!" Was the reply.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well? Where is Seigaku's little prince?" Atobe asked, holding a razor in one hand.

Oshitari chuckled. "It would seem that he has already left."

"Oh? He's too awed by my beautiful shaving skills, I suppose. Well, I'm feeling generous since we're the winner anyway. Ore-sama will let him go…this time."

Atobe took a sip of his punch (which Kabaji had dutifully gotten for him), placed the glass on the table and stood up before turning to all his regulars who, even though they had "won", were looking mortified instead of pleased.

"This was a wonderful experience, wasn't it? Ore-sama is thinking of organizing this competition again." Atobe declared.

"Give me a break…" Oshitari frowned. To which Shishido muttered "gekidasa".

Atobe feigned deafness and gave a low chuckle. "In fact, ore-sama will organize another competition in a few months time. This round, I'm not letting that Echizen escape."

The Hyotei regulars knew better than to argue with Atobe when he had his mind set. They gave a sigh and resigned to their fate.

_Be awed by the horrors of cheerleading._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Omake

"Sanada-fukubuchou! We've got mail!" The devil Kirihara yelled across the courts, where the cap-wearing vice-captain was seated next to the newly recovered captain.

Everyone stopped practice as they watched the baby of the team. Sanada frowned. "Mail? From whom?" He asked, taking the letter from Kirihara.

There was a brief moment of silence as both captain and vice-captain scanned the letter's contents. It was the calm before a storm. Moments later, thunder boomed.

"Akaya!!!"

And so it was, innocent Kirihara Akaya, oblivious postman for the Rikkai team, found himself chased by all his racket wielding seniors, who were out to kill him for bringing the catastrophe to them.

Only Yukimura remained seated, watching his regulars go. "Yare yare. Everyone is so spirited." He said calmly to himself, turning his attention back to the letter.

_To the peasants of Rikkai Dai,_

_Ore-sama will be holding a cheerleading competition, just two weeks before the Nationals. You are highly expected to participate in this, since all the other schools will be going too. Ore-sama's team was the previous champion, and ore-sama looks forward to defeating your team this round._

_You should worship,_

_Ore-sama, Atobe Keigo, King of Cheerleaders._

**::The End::**

A/N: Finally completed this. (Burst into relieved tears) Well, I hope you've enjoyed the fic.

**Please Read and Review. No Flames Please.**

-Gwyn


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